I know the original article is here SOMEWHERE but some reason I just don't know wher SOMEWHERE is at the moment (yes I looked
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Murder suspects' charges reduced
BY JOHN STEVENSON : The Herald-Sun
jstevenson@heraldsun.com
Sep 8, 2007 : 9:31 pm ET
A homicide case involving the 2004 death of Durham bail bondsman Carl Greenlaw ended in disappointment for the victim's family last week, with murder charges against two defendants falling apart for lack of evidence.
Virgil Larome Harris was allowed to plead guilty Thursday to a drastically reduced charge of soliciting someone else to kill Greenlaw. He was sentenced to between eight and 10 years in prison, a far cry from the penalty of life without parole he would have received if convicted -- as originally accused -- of first-degree murder.
The solicitation charge alleged that Harris persuaded or tried to persuade a second suspect, Rahteek Ricardo Victoria, to do away with Greenlaw.
But a first-degree murder charge against Victoria was dismissed Friday because prosecutor Tracey Cline said she couldn't prove it.
"I'm very, very disappointed with this outcome," Greenlaw's sister, Indiana lawyer Kimberly Robinson, said in a telephone interview.
"It's been kind of unbelievable, an unbelievable journey we've had since my brother died," she said. "The judicial system [in Durham] appears to be a joke from my perspective. I'm just glad it's all over."
Defense attorney Michael Driver, representing Harris, said he thought the prosecution would have had a hard time proving its case at trial.
"But who knows?" he asked.
Assistant District Attorney Tracey Cline agreed the case was difficult and probably not provable.
"The evidence we had was insufficient," she acknowledged Friday.
Greenlaw was the owner of Goldee's Bail Bonding.
His body was found when officers responded to what they thought was a routine traffic accident on Nichols Farm Road.
The victim's white Jaguar had plunged down an embankment more than 100 feet from the pavement. As Greenlaw was removed from the wreck, paramedics discovered a bullet wound to his head.
Greenlaw was taken by helicopter to Duke University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Court records show he had recently posted a total of $42,000 in bond money for one of the murder suspects -- Harris -- on various weapons, assault and drug charges.
Cline said Friday she thought Harris and Victoria belonged to a gang that specialized in robbing drug dealers and others, sometimes posing as FBI agents to do so.
The two apparently believed Greenlaw was carrying a large five-figure sum of cash at the time of his death, according to Cline.
Greenlaw's family was not represented in Durham County Superior Court last week.
But the victim's sister, Robinson, sent court officials a letter intended to blister Harris' ears.
"I was once filled with nothing but anger, hatred and contempt for you," she wrote, as if addressing Harris in person. "I wanted you dead and I wanted you murdered in the way that you murdered my brother -- coldhearted, calculated, and vicious. IF I HAD NOT KNOWN BETTER, I would have myself hired someone to find you and kill you just as you killed Carl."
